Teaching German

Quadriga

Quadriga

Results in Israel’s parliamentary election have defied expectations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suffering at the hands of voters. He leads the largest party in the Knesset but lost many seats. Netanyahu will need to form a broader coalition if he wants to stay in power. The centre-left politician Yair Lapid may end up playing an important role in the next government.

Watch video42:28

Share

Quadriga

Much of Lapid’s support came from Israel’s middle class which has been disappointed by Netanyahu’s policies. Lapid’s success in the poll means the Knesset is equally divided between the rightwing and centre-left blocs. As leader of the largest party, Netanyahu will be called upon to form the next government. He has said he will try to reach out beyond the right to other parties.

Can Netanyahu succeed in forming the next government and will he achieve his priority of preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon? What are the chances now of getting peace with the Palestinians? Does the election outcome mark a significant change in Netanyahu’s policies? Have politics in Israel moved to the centre?

Tell us what you think: Election Deadlock - Israel at the Crossroads

Our guests:

Sylke Tempel – Sylke Tempel was born in 1963 in Bayreuth, Germany and took history, political science and Jewish studies at university. She worked as Middle East correspondent for Germany’s “Die Woche” newspaper and was later an editor at Germany’s weekly Jewish interest publication “Jüdischen Allgemeine”. She has been the editor-in-chief of "Internationale Politik", which is published by the German Council of Foreign Affairs. She has authored several books including “Israel. Reise durch ein altes, neues Land".

Renée Abul-Ella – A Palestinian, she came to Germany after studying journalism in Cairo. Here she worked as a correspondent for the Palestinian WAFA news agency. Her focus today is immigration and integration. She is active in several projects in those fields.

Igal Avidan – Igal Avidanwas born in Tel Aviv in 1962 and studied English literature, information technology and political science. He has worked in Berlin as a freelance author for several Israeli newspapers and broadcasters since 1990. He has also lectured on the topic of the Middle East and his first book published in Germany, “Israel - Ein Staat sucht sich selbst”, was praised by critics.